Meyna tetraphylla
(Schweinf. ex Hiern) Robyns
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
MBG
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The sweet fruit are eaten and are popular as food.
Where to Find It
It is a tropical plant. In Kenya it grows from sea level to 1,100 m altitude. It grows in bushland and along watercourses in dry country. It grows on rocky and sandy soils.
Africa, Comoros, East Africa, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan,
How to Identify
A spiny shrub. It grows 2-4 m high. The branches curve upwards and the crown is narrow. It can be a creeper. The bark is grey-brown. There are pairs of spines where the leaves are attached. The leaves are yellow-green and slightly shiny. The flowers are in clusters in the axils of leaves. They are cream or green. The fruit is an almost round five angled berry. It is 2 cm across. There are 2 subspecies. Subspecies comorensis is more common and tetraphylla occurs in northern Kenya
Other Information
The fruit are popular.
Names & Synonyms
Kakamoa, Kitootoo, Kitotoo, Kitolousuu, Kuec, Mukurungu, Onakii, Qaaleda
References (11)
- Assefa, A. & Abebe, T., 2010, Wild Edible Trees and Shrubs in the Semi-arid Lowlands of Southern Ethiopia. Journal of Science and Development 1 (1) 2010
- East African Herbarium records, 1981,
- Duguma, H. T., 2020, Wild Edible Plant Nutritional Contribution and Consumer Perception in Ethiopia. Hindawi International Journal of Food Science Volume 2020, Article ID 2958623, 16 pages
- Kidane, B., et al, 2014, Ethnobotany of Wild and Semi-wild Edible Fruit Species used by Maale and Ari Ethnic Communities in South Ethiopia. Ethnobotany Research and Applications. Vol. 12, 1546-3465-12-455
- Maundu, P. et al, 1999, Traditional Food Plants of Kenya. National Museum of Kenya. 288p
- Mutie, F. G., 2020, Conservation of Wild Food Plants and Their Potential for Combatting Food Insecurity in Kenya as Exemplified by the Drylands of Kitui County. Plants 2020, 9, 1017
- Mutie, F. M., et al, 2023, Important Medicinal and Food Taxa (Orders and Families) in Kenya, Based on Three Quantitative Approaches. Plants 2023, 12, 1145
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 171
- Shumsky, S., et al, 2014, Institutional factors affecting wild edible plant (WEP) harvest and consumption in semi-arid Kenya. Land Use Policy 38(2014) 48-69
- von Katja Rembold, 2011, Conservation status of the vascular plants in East African rain forests. Dissertation Universitat Koblenz-Landau p 173
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
